Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter team up to pen this novel which has a very interesting premise: Humans figure out how to "step" which allows a person to instantly teleport to an alternate Earth. They take that concept even further by the fact that there are an infinite number of alternate Earths and one can "step" from one to the next. Since the technology required to build a "stepper" device is readily available to almost everyone on the planet this fundamentally changes civilization as we know it. Economies collapse as millions leave our Earth to go to unclaimed worlds with pristine land and resources while our existing governments struggle to deal with the concept of governing their same territory across multiple Earths.

Anyone familiar with the works of Terry Pratchett knows that there is always quite a bit of silliness involved in his story telling so it should come as no surprise that a stepper device can be built from cheap parts sold at Radio Shack and a potato. When one uses such a device to step to a "close" earth they find themselves on familiar ground minus the influence of homo sapiens.  All the land is available for the taking and a modern day stepper fueled gold rush breaks out. However, the real explorers are not satisfied with close Earths and they begin to step further and further away from our Earth. What they discover is that the more one steps away in a single direction the more the worlds begin to differ from our own. This makes for a great canvas upon which to tell an epic story and that is good because I sadly found the characters themselves to be a bit dry. This is unusual when Pratchett works alone so it is likely a side effect of the author collaboration with Stephen Baxter but it is impactful nonetheless.

Pratchett's sense of humor does surface from time to time but those times are sporadic and it is up to the larger plot lines to carry the day; unfortunately just when those story arcs begin to pick up steam the book abruptly ends and leaves you hanging. It comes as no surprise to learn that this was a five book deal from the start and you should only take the plunge if you are willing to pick up more than one book because as a standalone novel The Long Earth is pretty incomplete.

For audiobook fans, Michael Fenton-Stevens does a decent job and is a good fit for the material.